On The Trail of The Wicker Man

I'm just back from a shortish but enjoyable break in the south west of Scotland, mainly devoted to visiting an old friend from my school days, but incorporating plenty of fun trips and making the most of lovely weather - other than one very wet morning spent in the delightful book town of Wigtown! And even that damp day was made extremely pleasurable by the experience of wandering around the shops. Wigtown is a pleasant place, make all the pleasanter by the presence of thousands of books. I'd like to give special mention to Well Read Books, run by Ruth Anderson K.C. (not a bad career move for a top barrister to start up a great bookshop!) who was most welcoming. The shop has an eclectic stock, with some marvellous - and very uncommon - old crime titles as well as new books. I snaffled a John Rhode paperback that I'd never even seen before, and I'll definitely be back.

The first stop, though, was the seaside town of Ayr, which has lovely beaches and plenty of history. From there it was a short drive to Culzean Castle, which I last visited more than thirty years ago. It's a place that has stayed in my memory for various reasons, including the fact that in the film of The Wicker Man, it was the home of Lord Summerisle, also known as the great Christopher Lee. 

Culzean is a National Trust property, an impressive house in splendid grounds overlooking the sea. In the film, of course, it is located on the verdant island of Summerisle. The film was shot in a variety of locations in the south west of Scotland, and I enjoyed wandering around the area and seeing a number of them.The monster in the Swan Pool seen below is not connected with the film, nor is the horse shown at the end of this post, but I liked them a lot...

In the pretty little town of Kirkcudbright, the tourist information shop (situated close to the woven horse shown below) even sells pamphlets which show several of the locations used in the film. The harbour cottage now houses an art gallery and the whole area is picturesque. One evening, we dined in the Creebridge House Hotel, where members of the film crew stayed during the shoot. On a gorgeous day, it's hard to imagine that this area is the setting for one of the finest horror movies ever made. But of course, it's that contrast between light and dark that makes for such powerful artistic effects.